Qilin Ray Cruiser
Tactical Analysis *'Gravity stops you from flying': The Qilin serves as a powerful anti air naval vessel. Equipped with powerful gravity based tractor beams, the Qilin can pluck aircraft from the sky and drag them down. This is more often than not fatal for the aircraft and its pilot. *'Gravity pulls you towards stuff': In addition, the Qilin is equipped with a second battery of tractor beams. Unlike the anti air tractor beams, these tractor beams are instead designed for use against naval vessels. Power can be redirected to these tractor beams, allowing them to pull enemy vessels towards your forces. *'Gravity can't stop buoyancy': Unfortunately, the Qilin is unable to directly harm surface units, and must rely on its shields and other ships for protection. Operational History The Allied Aircraft Carrier has been one of the most sucessful ships created in the modern age, both giving the Allies a naval advantage and technological revolution with its design. It is thus no surprise that other faction have seeked to emulate this ship design for their own armed forces. Allied spies have sent reports of experimental Soviet ships that produce and release seaborne drones to attack enemies. Rumours have cropped up of a Japanese ship that is surrounded by swarms of nanites to seek out enemies, being redesigned after the swarms dissolved the ship itself. And the Allies have had to further raise security around harbours whenever an Aircraft Carrier docks in America, due to near daily attempts by the Confederates to hijack one whenever this occurs. Thus, it is no surprise that the Chinese attempted to emulate this design for their own army, but what could not be predicted was a small accident creating huge change in the role of a new ship. The Qilin was initially devised as a Chinese counterpart to the Aircraft Carrier, and this is reflected in its design. On top of the Qilin are ten small docking bays for aircraft. The original idea of the Qilin was that it would carry ten small 瑞 (Rui) aircraft, remotely controlled and minimised as much as possible to pack as many on the ship as possible. These fighters would strafe enemies with ray gun fire, using power from their JADE core at the expense of their engine power. When a Rui ran out of power, the Rui would be pulled back to the Qilin via tractor beam, to be recharged and released again. To further support this role, the Qilin was outfitted with dual tractor beams at it's front, designed to draw enemies in while the Rui mopped it up. While this was the plan, the ship known as the modern Qilin was created by a complete accident. After the first Qilin was created, it was sent to wipe out a Red Chinese base as a test of its newfound abilities. The Rui launched as planned, and began to strike the Red Chinese emplacement, ripping it apart with ease. However, once the Rui ran out of power, the Qilin activated its tractor beams... and chaos began. The tractor beams knocked the Rui out of the sky nearly instantly, crashing them into the ground or into the sea. Seeing that the Qilin was now free of its Rui fighters, the Red Chinese retaliated with a squad of Helix Assault Copters. The captain of the Qilin, remembering the devastation that the Qilin's tractor beams caused, commanded them to be used on the Helixes. Within minutes, every Helix was downed without so much as a scratch on the Qilin. The Red Chinese retaliated with a group of Battlemaster Tanks, who began to strike the Qilin. At this point, its frontal tractor beams were activated. One by one, the Battlemasters were dragged from the land and into the ocean, while the Qilin's shields shrugged off their blows. Seeing the power of the Qilin, the Red Chinese began to retreat, and were wiped out by a group of Watchmen sent to cut off their retreat. While the experiment with the Rui Fighters had failed completely, it did inspire the "Little Wing" patrol craft produced by the Great Wing. As for the Qilin, it is rumoured that its unexpected success inspired the Viceroy himself to request mass production of the craft for battle. To this day, the Qilin has seen near constant military duty, patrolling the waters of China for any aircraft foolish enough to try and land on its barren landscape. Category:Units